PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Jack Nicklaus has always voiced a theory about players who complain about a golf course, its conditions or the weather before a round: They’re defeated before striking their first shot.
Tiger Woods seemingly fell into that trap, noting after his Wednesday Honda Classic practice round the greens at PGA National are particularly slow compared to the last two years he has played in the tournament.
One day later, Woods took 30 putts en route to shooting a spotty 1-over-par 71 in the opening round, leaving him eight shots out of the lead held by Rory McIlroy.
Afterward, Woods, who started his round at No. 10, said his game “certainly wasn’t together.’’
“Well, I didn’t make much,’’ he said, referring to his putting. “I had probably the first four holes right out of the gate … four good looks and didn’t make any of them. Then I made three good saves in a row at 16, 17, 18, which was nice, and then didn’t really hit the ball that well on the back nine. Then I started putting better. Figures.’’
Woods said he felt like he “hit it good enough to shoot probably at least three or four lower than I did,’’ adding, “I had so many looks where I just missed.
“I hit it good starting out, hit it kind of scrappy in the middle and then hit it good at the end,’’ he said. “But it was just one or the other; I either hit it good and missed the putt, and then scrap around and make a putt. [The greens] are slower but they are really grainy, and I got fooled on the grain a few times.
“I hit good putts, but I just didn’t figure out the grain as well as I needed to. I need to do a better job of that, there’s no doubt.’’